Millions of children unable to go to school

Millions of children unable to go to school

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Millions of school-age children throughout Indonesia have been
unable to continue their education, due in large part to the
lingering effects of the 1997 financial crisis, according to
ministry of education officials.

Director General of Primary and Secondary Schools Indra Djati
Sidi said in a hearing at the House of Representatives here on
Wednesday that 27 percent of school-age children were unable to
attend school since the beginning of the country's financial woes
four years ago.

"But there has been no progress since then," Indra said at a
hearing with the House Commission VI for education and religious
affairs here on Wednesday.

If the percentage has remained the same in 2001, the number of
children who are out of school would be more than eight million.
This is based on last year's data that the number of school age
children nationwide was 33.5 million.

Indra did not specifically mention the reasons why the
children had to leave their schools except to say that "various
expansion projects" such as an open school system had to be
abandoned due to a lack of funds.

It is also understood that many parents have not been able to
pay their children's schools fees after the crisis struck.

The government won praise in 1994 when it made it compulsory
for school-age children to take at least nine years of basic
education.

Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fadjar, who was
also present during the hearing, said that the 2004 target of the
program would be revised.

Indra said that just maintaining the 73 percent who were
attending school was difficult.

Legislators attributed the education failure to a lack of
seriousness or corruption rather than a lack of funds.

Suwondo, a member of Commission VI, said that many state
schools still required students to pay various fees on top of
their normal school fees, but there was no punitive action from
the education authorities.

One agency that asked for such a payment was the Compensating
Body for Education Implementation (BP3), he said.

In many instances, the amount of money required from students
is greater than their school fees.

"BP3 is often in collusion with school principals," he added.

Another legislator Aris Munandar said the education failure
was also reflected from the many truants who are often seen
during school hours.